Obama gets it, why don't we?

 By Wa-J

I received a flurry of emails and texts yesterday informing me that Obama had just pronounced inequality as the most important debate of our time… I might have fallen over myself rushing to get to the laptop had it not already been on my lap.

Low and behold, amidst all the nationalistic rhetoric in the State of the Union address, was the message that America needs to tackle growing economic inequality, and fast.

 We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.

There are considerable similarities between the economic trends highlighted by President Obama and inequality here in the UK. Median wages have stagnated and social mobility is shamefully low. Poorly paid and insecure jobs have grown while decent jobs in sectors like manufacturing have increasingly disappeared. We have what amounts to a regressive tax system and families are burdened with a mountain of personal debt. The only real difference is that most of these trends are more acute in the US at the moment, but many believe we are heading in the same direction.

So, why aren’t our politicians making the same bold statements? We continue to hear that ‘we’re all in it together’, but even discussions around high pay, social mobility and the squeezed middle make a detour around the inequality issue, despite the fact it is fundamental to tackling all of these problems.

As Obama laid out a plan to encourage more manufacturing jobs that provide non-graduates with an opportunity to learn on-the-job and be paid a decent wage, Nick Clegg, was celebrating 2,500 new jobs from McDonalds. Hmmm….

“No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important,” Obama concluded at the end of his speech. I’m not sure why it is that our politicians shy away from acknowledging inequality as one of the defining issues of our time, but it’s time they learned from our American friends.